What is the ruling on dyeing the beard, with what dye, and what is the obligation of one who does not dye it?

The questioner : What is the position regarding dyeing the beards, with what dye, and what is the obligation of one who does not dye it?

The Shaykh : ... .

The questioner : Now ... .

The Shaykh : The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commands in this hadith to dye, saying So he (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to dye our gray hair, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) had not yet been fully covered in gray hair; rather, there were only about ten hairs that had turned gray. And yet, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to dye with henna and katam, and so did Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and others of the Companions. The command to dye here contains a wonder that Islamic groups overlook, except for those who are truly eager to adhere to the Sunnah. Indeed, gray hair is a matter of the Sunnah of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which He has decreed for humans when they reach a certain age. This is a matter shared by the Muslim and the disbeliever, the righteous and the wicked. One may turn gray before another, and that does not indicate that he is better or worse than the other. And a Muslim may turn gray before a disbeliever. This is a decree imposed on people and does not indicate anything in itself. However, for the Muslim, it indicates something: that when he turns gray, he hastens to obey the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned above, thereby differing from them. The point is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), although He has decreed gray hair for all people, as we said, Muslims and disbelievers, righteous and wicked, such that it is not possible for anyone to say, "So-and-so, the gray-haired man, is imitating the gray-haired Jew or the gray-haired Christian." It is not possible to say this. Why? Because this gray hair is not of his making and not of his earning, so it cannot be said, "Why did you turn gray?" Rather, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has decreed gray hair for His servants. Nevertheless, here we find that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the Muslim, when gray hair strikes him, to dye it in order to differ from the disbelievers who turn gray by the Sunnah of Allah but do not dye it. So the Muslim, then, must affirm his difference from the disbelievers even in a matter that Allah has decreed upon him and compelled him to, which is gray hair. But He told him to differ from the disbelievers by dyeing. So what about one who comes to a matter that Allah has created in his nature, namely that He distinguished him from the woman by creating for him a beard and commanded him to maintain it and let it grow, and he comes and imitates them in a reverse imitation? There, regarding gray hair, we said it is not possible to say the Muslim is imitating the disbeliever because ... But here, he shaves his beard, thereby realizing imitation of the disbeliever through his own earning and action. And in doing so, he is contrary to the command of his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I wanted to explain this point so that I could return, on the occasion of this hadith and the question that ... there, to say that the dyeing that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded is any dye, with the exception of one type and one color, namely black. It is not permissible for the Muslim who fears Allah, knows the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, and follows his Sunnah (peace and blessings be upon him) to dye his gray hair black. This is based on two hadiths. The first is a hadith in Muslim's Sahih in the story of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's father, Abu Quhafah, when he was brought and his beard was white like the thughamah. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded Abu Bakr's people to change his gray hair and keep him away from black. Some people say this command is specific to them, and they have a philosophy in this matter that is not good or beautiful at all. They say that he was severely gray-haired because he resembled the hadith that he was like the thughamah, which is a white plant like cotton in whiteness. So they interpret this prohibition as being specific to Abu Quhafah. Then comes to them the hadith that includes all the contrary, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) .
So the command to dye includes every color except black, due to the prohibition of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of that. I return to say that if all the groups claim the Book and the Sunnah, the important thing in this claim is two things. The first is that their claim be accompanied by acting upon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah, and not just by speech and ... and the like. And the other thing is that their action upon the Book and the Sunnah be according to the detail that we explained yesterday, which is that they seek out the authentic Sunnah and do not take hadith from here and there, thereby falling into lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as we also explained. In summary, we are not in need ... .

The questioner : ... to be a follower in that of the righteous Salaf, because ... in the same hadith and act upon it, he will be contrary to what the Salaf were upon.
Another questioner: I mean the second condition ... .

The Shaykh : Yes ... I say, on the condition that the claim be accompanied by action, meaning that following the Sunnah appears in their approach in their entire lives. And the second condition is that they intend to know what is authentic from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of commands, rulings, prohibitions, and the like. And the third and final condition is that they receive the explanation of that from what the righteous Salaf were upon, either in their approach in their lives or in their analysis and clarification of the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Perhaps it is appropriate for me to mention an issue that is among the problems of the present time. There is a hadith in Sahih Muslim in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said We have heard that some people declare others disbelievers because of the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) They declare disbeliever the one who dies and does not have a pledge of allegiance on his neck. This is a new, modern misguidance in the name of following the Sunnah. That is because the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not equal their interpretation, which says he died the death of the disbelievers, meaning he died a disbeliever, an apostate, abiding in the Fire. No, it has come in some authentic hadiths in al-Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abu Dharr He said this is a declaration of disbelief by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of Abu Dharr, may he be spared. But the meaning of this phrase here and there is that in you is a characteristic of the characteristics of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and you must purify yourself from it and not fall into it. So our hadith means he dies as the disbelievers used to die in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance; they had no head, they had no imam to lead them and direct them. And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said So they lived as tribes, as we know that. So if the Muslims live like this and die and do not have a pledge of allegiance on their necks, one of them dies the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. So it does not mean that the pre-Islamic age of ignorance is that he is a disbeliever, an apostate, outside the religion. This is one point. And another before it: All of us today, unfortunately, die and do not have a pledge of allegiance on our necks, because there is no caliph pledged to by the people of authority and responsibility whom we are obligated to pledge to. So does this warning include us, even with the correct interpretation that we mentioned? The answer is that this ... on his neck a pledge of allegiance, he died the death of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. If today there is no caliph, does this warning and this severe description include every Muslim who lives today, even if he is eager to adhere to the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf, and is most eager to resume Islamic life, realize the Islamic society, and establish the righteous caliphate? Does this warning include even such people? The answer, if we know that the clear, mutually understood meaning of the hadith is ... does not mean that we are free from being misguided like the first pre-Islamic age of ignorance, that we have no leader, that we have no caliph. If we can expand in understanding this hadith, we can say that the one who dies and does not have a pledge of allegiance on his neck, in reality or in striving, in reality we understand striving to mean that he does not think, does not care, and does not strive to establish the society from which this pledged man emerges, and he must be pledged to when that happens. That is, this hadith can be interpreted in the manner of another hadith that I mentioned earlier on the occasion of hypocrisy. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said So this hadith clarified that it is obligatory for the Muslim to engage in the expedition. If he is not able to do so, as is our reality today, also with great regret, then at least he should remind himself of the expedition. Reminding oneself of the expedition necessitates moving the person's feelings to work so that he can be able to engage in the expedition. Likewise, the previous hadith: the one who dies and does not have a pledge of allegiance on his neck, he must strive to establish the society from which that pledged man emerges, so that he is among those who hasten to pledge to them. Yes.